The concept of security before and after September 11

(1) The Contested Concept of Security Steve Smith: The main theme underlying this paper is the contention that 'security' is "an essentially contested concept". The article attempts an overview of the current debates shaping the subfield of 'security studies'. Six main 'schools of thought' are examined in turn to demonstrate how each of these 'schools' challenge and contest the traditional agenda of 'security studies' by attempting to both widen and deepen the concept of 'security'. The last section concludes by examining the value of engaging in such debates on widening and deepening the term 'security' for international politics in our present age